Painted Goalie Masks
In the 90s, while studying art in college, Joe turned an airbrush on hockey goalie masks.
It was a natural extension of everything already happening on paper and canvas. Custom mask painting was its own subculture at the time, and the airbrush suited it well. Bold color, clean gradients, no room for hesitation. You commit to a line on a curved surface or you don't. The mask decides pretty quickly which one you did.
The designs pulled from the same places they always have: comics, sports culture, whatever was worth drawing. The discipline was different from oil painting and cartooning, but the instinct was the same. Find what makes the subject worth looking at and put it there.
Along the way, Joe had the benefit of working alongside two of the best in the business in Boston: Dom Malerba of Pro's Choice and Mike Myers of Myers Mask Design. In goalie mask painting, those are not small names. Learning the craft with people at that level has a way of raising the standard permanently.
The masks here are from that period. A different medium, the same hand.
It was a natural extension of everything already happening on paper and canvas. Custom mask painting was its own subculture at the time, and the airbrush suited it well. Bold color, clean gradients, no room for hesitation. You commit to a line on a curved surface or you don't. The mask decides pretty quickly which one you did.
The designs pulled from the same places they always have: comics, sports culture, whatever was worth drawing. The discipline was different from oil painting and cartooning, but the instinct was the same. Find what makes the subject worth looking at and put it there.
Along the way, Joe had the benefit of working alongside two of the best in the business in Boston: Dom Malerba of Pro's Choice and Mike Myers of Myers Mask Design. In goalie mask painting, those are not small names. Learning the craft with people at that level has a way of raising the standard permanently.
The masks here are from that period. A different medium, the same hand.
